Monday, August 4, 2008

[Gabe sent over some pictures from when we were chilling the other dayin Gangnam, so I hence present an updated version of my original post.]

I went into the city late Saturday afternoon to chill with my homeboyGabe near the English church we attend in Gangnam (강남구/江南區).He is a fellow minority so you know he shares that passion over bargainhunting. As for my own pragmatic stance:

As both Gabe and I are well aware, when looking to cop fly gears onthe low in Asia (or SoHo), there is only one mother lode:

Uniqlo is the Japanese equivalent of H&M and The Gap, with qualityand style to spare. I've bought Uniqlo gear in 上海 (a 40元/$5 trackjacket and a tee) and New York (a pair of $66 selvedge denim) and theprice (low), quality (high) and wearability (even higher) has thus farbeen uniform across two countries. This time, Gabe and I found awhole mess of Uniqlo's signature limited tees on sale for 5000 Won(~$5). Gabe copped a stay-dry sports top, while I chose two morestylish joints. I had been tempted to get one of the Gundam designs too,but held off on principle of not wanting to be, you know. That guy.

For some reason I was grinning like a chipmunk all day.[Note to self: it's not becoming.]

Gabe has lived in Ko Rea too long...

Me: That's a camera!Gabe: (grins)

Me: (poser)Gabe: (grins)

Me: Index finger downGabe: (grins)

Gangnam... one of the style centers of Korea...

...and the pick-ups...

We'll teach you how to stunt shop (75% off at bareminimum!)

A closer examination reveals the bag is sealed with Uniqlo-branded tape. All the touches here.

Exhibit 1: "The eleven and The only"

"UT x Stylist vol.02: "The eleven and The only" is a project that follows"The ten and The only" project with new members added. It refers toeleven special T-shirts created through the collaboration betweenUniqlo and eleven stylists. The stylists, who love T-shirts andthoroughly know the essence of them, designed their T-shirts with "MyNews" as the concept. Each T-shirt possesses the stylists' passion andtheir uncompromising tastes."

"Shinichi Mita"

"Born in 1975 in Tokyo.""Mita moved to the UK in 1998 and worked mainly for Europeanmagazines and advertisements. He returned to Japan in 2001, andcontinues doing styling work for magazines, advertisements, and musicvisuals. He is also unveiling unique artistic expression activities,presenting his works at the Nokimono Exhibition held in Canada andthe Stylist Meets Exhibition held at Laforet Harajuku."

I am not sure what this tee is supposed to be presenting,but the skull makes me think of that latest IndianaJones flick. And it's gripping a blood-red flower in itsjaws? Aiight.

The print quality on this joint is incredible, almostphotorealistic, and the colors are vividly chosen.

Exhibit 2: "Inspired:""Inspired: is a worldwide design project whereby artists from aroundthe world compete in creating T-shirts. Curators from the world'smajor cities become the "epicenter," and select those artists whocreate works of art that are inspired by the themes presented by UT.The T-shirts allow the wearers to enjoy these various works of art."

This print has even more photorealistic verisimilitude,if that's possible, than the Circulate joint.(Side note: why does statuary always lack arms?)

Uniqlo Paper, Korean version: a poster of Uniqlo'scurrent season tees.